Colossians 2:4 - Meaning and Application

The apostle warns the Colossians against deceivers (Colossians 2:4). He says this, and then again in Colossians 2:8, to guard them from being carried away. He stresses the perfection of Christ and the gospel so they will not be trapped by those who would corrupt their faith.

Satan ruins souls by first deceiving them. He misleads people, and then destroys them. He is the old serpent who tricked Eve with his craftiness (2 Corinthians 11:3). He could not ruin us unless he first cheated us, and he could not cheat us without our own foolishness and fault.

Satan’s agents also work by using enticing words. This is why words that sound pleasant can be so dangerous. Many people are ruined by the smooth talk of those who lie in wait to deceive, and by false ideas that only look good on the surface. By “good words” and “fair speeches,” such people deceive the hearts of the simple (Romans 16:18). So believers must stay on guard against anyone who tries to draw them into evil, because the goal is to spoil them. If sinners entice you, do not agree with them (Proverbs 1:10).

Paul then gives a sure protection against false teachers (Colossians 2:6, 7): “As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” All Christians have, at least in profession, received Jesus Christ the Lord. They have received him as Christ, God’s anointed prophet who reveals God’s will; as Jesus, the great high priest and Savior who delivers from sin and judgment by his sacrifice; and as Lord, the king we must obey. To receive him means to accept him, trust him, and take him for ours in every role and for every need.

The main concern of those who have received Christ is to walk in him. That means their daily life should match their beliefs, and their conduct should fit the promises they have made. As we have received Christ and given ourselves to him, so we must live with him and keep close fellowship with him. The more closely we walk with Christ, the more rooted and steady we become in the faith. A holy life is the best support for a sound faith. If we walk in him, we will be rooted in him, and the firmer we are rooted, the more closely we will walk in him.

Paul adds, “As you have been taught.” That is, according to the Christian teaching they had received. Good instruction has a strong influence in keeping believers steady. We must be established in the faith as we were taught, and we must keep growing in it. And all of this should be done with thanksgiving. The way to enjoy God’s grace is to be thankful for it. We should join gratitude to every step of growth and recognize how merciful God has been in all our blessings and progress.

Paul then gives a clear warning: “See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). There is a kind of philosophy that is noble and useful. It uses our reasoning well and helps religion, because it studies God’s works and leads us to know him better. But there is also a philosophy that is empty and deceptive. It harms religion by putting human wisdom against God’s wisdom. It flatters people’s minds while damaging their faith. This includes pointless speculation about things above us or useless to us, and it includes a care for fancy words and technical terms that may sound wise but often hide little or nothing.

Paul’s words about “the tradition of men” and “the basic principles of the world” clearly point to both Jewish and pagan teaching. The Jews were guided by the traditions of their elders and by ritual rules that were only meant to prepare for the gospel. The Gentiles mixed their philosophical ideas with Christian truth. In both cases, their minds were pulled away from Christ. People who lean on human tradition and follow the world’s way have turned from following Christ. The main deceivers here were Jewish teachers who tried to keep the law of Moses alongside the gospel of Christ, but in reality they placed it in competition with the gospel and against it.

Paul then shows that Christ contains the reality of everything the ceremonial law only pointed toward. Did they have the Shekinah, the special presence of God called the glory? We have that now in Jesus Christ (Colossians 2:9). “In him the whole fullness of God lives bodily.” Under the law, God’s presence was shown between the cherubim, in the cloud over the mercy seat. But now it dwells in the person of our Redeemer, who shares our nature and has made the Father known more clearly to us. It dwells in him bodily, not as body stands against spirit, but as reality stands against shadow. The full deity of Christ dwells in him truly, not just in symbol, for he is both God and man.

Did they have circumcision, the sign and seal of the covenant? In Christ, we have “circumcision made without hands” (Colossians 2:11). This is the work of new birth in us, the spiritual or Christian circumcision. “A person is a Jew inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart” (Romans 2:29). This is Christ’s work and belongs to the Christian era. It is made without hands, not by human power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are born of the Spirit (John 3:5), and this is the washing of new birth and the renewing work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).

This spiritual circumcision means putting off the body of the sins of the flesh. It means turning from sin and reforming our lives, not merely performing outward rituals. It is not just the removal of dirt from the body, but the answer of a good conscience toward God (1 Peter 3:21). And it is not enough to put away one sin only, because the whole body of sin must be put off. The old self must be crucified, and the body of sin destroyed (Romans 6:6). Christ was circumcised, and by our union with him, we share in that effective grace that puts off the body of sinful flesh.

The Jews thought they were complete in the ceremonial law, but we are complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10).

That covenant was incomplete and lacking. If the first covenant had been perfect, there would have been no need to look for a second one (Heb 8:7). The law was only a shadow of the good things to come, and its sacrifices could never make those who came to God fully clean and complete (Heb 10:1). But Christ makes up for every weakness in that covenant through his full sacrifice for sin and through the clear revealing of God’s will.

Christ is the head over every ruler and power. Just as the Old Testament priesthood found its true fulfillment in Christ, so did David’s kingdom, the highest earthly rule under the Old Testament, which the Jews prized so highly. He is the Lord and head over all powers in heaven and on earth, over angels and people alike. Angels, authorities, and powers are all subject to him (Pe1 3:22).

We also share in Christ’s whole work, as Col 2:12 says: “Buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him.” In baptism, we are shown both burial and rising with Christ. This is not because the outward act itself looks like burial and rising in any direct way, any more than the Lord’s Supper visibly shows Christ’s crucifixion. Paul is speaking of the circumcision made without hands, and he says it comes through faith in God’s power. What baptism signifies is that we are buried with Christ, since baptism seals the covenant and binds us to die to sin. It also means we are raised with Christ, since baptism seals our duty to live in righteousness, or in new life. In baptism, God commits himself to be our God, and we commit ourselves to be his people. By his grace, we are called to die to sin and live to righteousness, putting off the old self and putting on the new.